Violin



Patented Nov. l

This invention re latesto and has for 'a naraslo v'rss PATENT oFFicEg- V JOHN DPY`ERA,I0F TAFT, CALIFOBNIA.

` vronm.

Application filed December 12, v1923. Serial No.

main object the provision of an improved method and means v whereby the tone and the instrument ,will

proved, and the equi lnstrument produced for constructing violins,

playing qualities of be substantially imvalent of an expensive or reconstructed at a nominal expense and with minor changes, with a cheap instrument employed as the bas1s of the reconstructlon.

Another obj ect is to provideia form of construction applic'able to old or new instruments, whereby the old instruments may be so reconstructed andwhereby the new instruments may be so constructed that a maximum quality-of tone It is well known,

violin influences or determines the tone,

will be provided.

that the length of the th at is to say, ordinarily an instrument of a given length will have a instrument of lesser far superior' tone' toy an length. The modern instrument, is substantially shorter than older instrumentsdue to the fact that blocks are usually inserted at the instrument for ture, to which the neck be attached. for a substantial and bottom and they serve to'lessen lthe head and tail of reinforcing the strucends of the instrument and also to lessen the vibration area on It is an object of my invention therefore to provide an improved ple reinforcement of attaching the neck and tail provided for piece to the body of the shortening the effective the top and bottom` means whereby amthe` structure will be instrument, without ment, and in fact utilizing the entire lengt-h of the top and bottom same free for vibrat Itone.

By the employment and rendering the ion for improvlng the of the means hereinafter described, rit is possible to construct new violins with an lncreased vibration area lor length and with ample rigidity, and it is further possible to re construct' old instru- V the portion 1 -of ners between the top and tail piece'may These blocks extend inwardly distance between the top deaden the tone, lilrewise the distance between the v the tail piece tissimilarly length of` the instru-V esc,144.

vt'ones at least approaching in value the tones ,of an expensive instrument.

Fig` V 2 is a side view of the same partly in 4 section; and i V Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional plan of a reconstructed violin.

Referring to the drawings, T is the top of ,usual form, B is the bottom and S, S are the 'sides which are cut into the proper shape, closely fitted and glued together. The cor- S are usually reinforced by means of small beads, 5, b, Vwhich may be of any suitable cross section, but are usually in the form of a segment of a `vcircle with right angular sides abuttingand adapted to be glued -to the top, bottom and sides for holding these parts firmly together. Both the top and the bottom ,are carved out and are of convex' cross section, while the sides are formed of thin veneer. Asshown atone end lof the instrument a neck N is firmly attached to the end, bottom and top, while at the other end attached. Usually the parts N and t are extended substantially inwardlyfrom the ends and thus serve to T, `bottom B and sides decrease the effective length of the topfand 4 bottom. t

In my improvements I terminate the said parts at the ends of the instrument, so as not the neck N von. a curvecon-` des ever, I provide a renforcing strip 3 'of thin' material which eXtends over the innerend of the neck portion 1 and at its opposite ends is extended over the inner sides of' the side portions 2` 2, to which it is glued and which serves to overlie the joints between the side portions 2, 2 and portion 1 of the neck. This forms an additional means of ,support and at the same time does not nn- 'pair the quality of'the instrument by any substantial reduction in the effective length;

As usual in such instruments the neck N supports the finger board F which underlies the strings 5, 5 etc. V

The opposite end of the instrument is provided with the tail part t, which i's also eX- tended outwardly instead of inwardly from the end of the instru-ment, and portions 6, 6 of the side S are extended around the convexl surface of the part t and the sides of the instrument. The inner surface 7 of the part' t is curved to conform to the curve of this end of theinstrument, anda strip 8 of V material overlies the` joints between the portiont and the portions 6,- 6 of side S in a manner similar to the other end of the instrument. Thus, the'block t is heldbetween the portions 6, 6 of the side and the strip 8 onl the inside of the instrument. Also, the top T andrbottom B are extended over the upper and lower sides of the block t, as shown in Fig. 2.` l l The tail block t serves as a means of support of theitail piece P which is connected therewith by means of the tal gut 9 attached at its ends to the tail piece P, and is looped around a -peg 10 which is suitably attached to the center portion of the block t and projects outwardly from the lower end of the tail of the violin. Thus, the two opposite ends of the V instrument are firmly and rigidly construeted so as to withstand the strani due to the tension of the strings 5, and although the parts are sufficiently strong and firm to withstand this straiin'the effective length of the instrument is the equivrralent of its actual length,V

On the tail block a narrow strip. of ebony as at E isvsuitably mounted on the upper edge so as to overlie the tail of the instrument and to in position. y V

It will bel further observed that by the employmentof my method and means in the construction or reconstruction of an instrureceive and hold the tail gut 9 'top and a bottom,

reli-7,510

ment, the general appearance'of the instruimprove the 'tone and to conform substantially to the structure shown in connection with new violins in Figs. land 2.

' Referring to saidV FigJ it will be seen that the inner end of the neck block 11 is represented by dotted lines, and that heretofore the portion 11 has extended substantially inwardly of the end of the violin, whilethe sides S have terminated in the sides of and' againstl the neck block. Now, in my improvements in order -to improve the tone of the instrument-,and to entirely remove the portion 11 from the interiorof the instrument and to 'reinforee the neck'N, I have cut the neck N at the line 13 and have extended the top beard`T by adding a curved extension 14 from the portion 12 where said top terminates against the neck N, and the reinforeing member 3 is inserted in the same 'manner as in Fig. 1 -at the inner end of neck N and overlapping the joints between side extensions 15 and the sides S. Portions 15 tions connectingsaid top andbottom, thin inner strips of material in the opposite ends overlapping the inner surfaces and adjacent ends of said sides, a neck attached to one end of the body and having a neck block overlapping and abutting the adjacent inner strip of material at one end of said body, and extended outwardly therefrom, the extremities of the sidesy overlying said block outwardly of the body and merging thereinto, a tail block at the opposite end of the body abutting said inner strip of material and extended outwardly therefrom, the adjacent ends of said sides being curved around and attached to the outer surface of said tail block, saidtop and said bottom. being extended--voutwardly over said neck and tail pieces, for the purpose described.

2.' A violin comprising a bodyhaving a sides connecting said top andlbottom and formed of thin strips of material with the adjacent ends thereof spaced apart at one end, thin strips of matecomp'i-ising a body llD said inner strips of material and curved out- Wardly therefrom, 4the adjacent end portion of said sides being curved outwardly around said tail block for` reinforcing one end of said body, a neck attached to the other end of said body, including a block abutting said inner strip of material at said other end, said neck block being extended outwardly and recessed in the sides to receive, and said sides being held insaid recessed portions and eX- tended outwardly over the sides of said neck block, for seeuring said neck in position for use, and said top and bottom members beng extended at the ends over both of said blocks, as described.

- JOHN DOPYERA. 

